Car coupling



LJAND F. PIGNANl.

CAR COUPLING- APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29, 1919.

1 4L3 193 Patented Jan w, 1922,

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CAR COUPL|NG-- APPLICATION FILED SEPT 29, 1919.

1 4%, 193 Patented Jan. w, 1922.

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LOREHZQ PIGNANE AND FRANK PIC-1N A211, 05 DILLTGVJIJ, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR COUPLING.

Application filed September 23, 1919.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it lznown that we, Leann-.30 Piomn'i, a subject the King of ltaly,and FRANK PIGNANI, a citizen of the United States, and residents ofDilltown. in the county of lndiana and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements n Car Couplings, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to car couplings, and particularly to theautomatically operated car couplings of the link and pin typo.

The purpose of our invention is to provide a car coupling of the abovedescribed character which is particularly, although not necessarily,adapted for use on mine cars, the coupling containing the desirablefeatures of simplicity, durability. efficiency, and constructed to makeand maintain the coupling atall times and under most difficultconditions.

We will describe one form of car coupling embodying our invention andwill then point out the novel features in claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figures 1 and 2 are fragmentary views of the ends of a pair of adjacentmine cars having applied thereto one form of car coupling embodying ourinvention;

Figures 3 and i are vertical sectional views of the two parts of thecoupling shown in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 5 is a plan view partly in section showing the coupling membershown in Figure 3;

Figures 6 and 7 are enlarged detail views of the coupling member shownin Figure 5.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of theseveral views.

Referring specifically to the drawings, and particularly to Figures 1and 2, M and M designate mine cars of the usual construction havingsecured to the under sides thereof draw bars B and B, respectively,which project beyond the confronting ends of the cars and have arrangedupon these projecting ends the parts C and C, which constitute thesubject-matter of our invention. The parts C and C comprise draw heads Hand H, respectively, formed with extensions L and L which are secured tothe respective draw bars B and B by means of bolts 15. Each draw head Hor ll is provided with a compartment 16 or 16, the upper and lower wallsof which converge toward the inner ends of a second compartment 17 or17,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14),

Serial No. 9237,18 2.

which constitutes the mouth of the draw head. As shown in Figure 5, themouth 1'? or 17 is of substantially rectangular formation and isprovided with inwardly inclined walls.

fit the juncture of the compartments l6 and 17, the upper and lowerwalls of the draw head H are provided with registering openings, thelower one 18 of which is circular to receive a coupling pin P. The upperopening communicates with a housing A comprising front and rear walls 19and 20, respectively, a bottom wall 21, and a cover A ..e 21.. The innerface of each wall 19 and 20 is provided with narrow grooves 23 betweenwhich is formed a relatively wide groove Working a coupli L roundportion 25 and a relatively flat portion 26. it the juncture of theseportions 25 and 26 a latch block 27 is formed, while directly above thelatch block 27 the flattened portion 26 is provided upon its oppositeedges with guide blocks 28. The blocks 28 have a sliding within thegrooves 24. of the walls l9 and 20 and thereby guide the coupling pinduring its vertical movement, as will be understood. Arranged uponopvertically within the housing A in P, said pin comprising a 'positesides of the coupling pin are apair of gravity tr gers T and T. each ofwhich, as shown. in Figure 7, comprises a body porti on 29 having asubstantially dove-tail groove 29 formed on one face thereof, whichlatter, in turn, provides a hook 30, adjacent the upper end thereof, anda rib 2-30 adjacent the medial portion of the body. it the lower end ofthe body 29 the trigger is iorn'ied with a beveled surface 31 which isinclined inwardly toward the coupling pin, as shown in Figure 5. Asshown to advantage in Figure 5, the lower end of each trig- T or Cl" iscurved in the form of an are so that its lower end may be swungoutwardly from the pin P without engaging the lower wall 21. of thehousing A. The triggers T and T are also capable of vertical movementwithin the housing A, and to guide the same during this movement and, atthe same time, to permit a swinging movement thereof, we provide pivotpins 32 adj acent the upper end thereof which work in the grooves 23.

As shown in Figure 5, the triggers T and T normally occupy substantiallyvertical positions under the action of gravity, and in Q r V 1,408,193

this position the ribs 30 rest in groovesfl? termed in the under side ofthe latch block 27, and because the lower ends of the triggers areresting upon the lower wall of the housing A, the ribs 30 engage thelatch block 27 and thereby support the pin P in elevated position. I

Should the triggers T and T be swung outwardly about the pivot pins 32as a center, the ribs 80 would disengage the latch block 2'7 and therebypermit the coupling pin P to gravitate to its lowermost position. In thelowermost position the circular portion 25 of the coupling pin P movesinto the opening 18 and thereby spans the interior of the housing at theinner end of the mouth 17.

Referring now to Figures 2 and l, K designates a coupling link which isadapted to be locked within the housing H by the coupling pin P. Thelink K is provided with a shank which is normally disposed within thedraw head H, and is provided with an opening to receive a locking pin34:. The pin 34: extends through suitable openings formed in the upperand lower walls of the draw head H at the juncture oi the compartments16 and 17. The inner end of the shank 33 is providedwith a hook 35 whichis connected with one end of a coiled contractile spring 36, theopposite end of such spring being connected to a pin 37. From thisarrangement it will be seen that the coupling link K is supported formovement in a horizontal plane but is biased to a predetermined positionso that it is properly centered with relation to the mouth 17 by meansof the spring 36. 7

With the parts of the coupler in the posi- 'tion shown in Figure 5, letit be assumed that the cars are to be coupled. When either of the cars Mor ll is moved toward the other, the projecting link K moves into themouth 17 of the draw-head H and strikes the beveled surface 31 of thetriggers T and T with sufiicient impact to force the triggers outwardlythereby causing the lips 80' to disengage the latch block 27. As soonthis occurs, the coupling pin P is free to gravitate to its lowermostposition wherein the rounded' portion 25 passes through the link K andinto the opening 18 thereby securely locking the link within thedraw-head and coupling the cars together. lVh'enuncoupling, it isnecessary to partly lift the coupling pin until i is withdrawn from theopening 18 and disengages the link-K. The coupling pin is raised until.the latch block engages the hooks 3O whereupon continued elevationcauses the triggers to be raised so as to clear the link and to swinginwardly back to the position shown in Figure 5. It will be obvious thatwith the triggers in this position the lips 30 are again disposed in thepath of movementof the latch block so that when the coupling pin isreleased it descends until checked by" the lips thereby locking the pinwithdrawn position with respect to the opening 18 so as to again permitthe withdrawal of the link K in effecting an uncoupling of the cars.

Although we have herein shown and described only one form of carcoupling embodying our invention, it will be understood that variouschanges and modifications may be made herein without departing from thespirit of the invention and spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Vi e claim:

1. A car coupling comprising a draw head having an interior cavity and atapered mouth communicating with said cavity, a housing associated withthe draw head and communicating with said mouth, grooves formed on theside walls of said housing, a coupling pin, guide blocks carried by saidpin and working within certain of said grooves, a latch block fixed tosaid pin, a pair of triggers, pins adjacent the upper ends of thetriggers and working within the re maining grooves, hooks formed on eachof said triggers and disposed upon opposite sides of said latch block,said triggers having beveled surfaces disposed within the mouth of saiddraw head, and a coupling link adapted to be inserted in said mouth andto engage said beveled surfaces.

2.. A car coupling comprising a draw-head,

a pin movable vertically within the drawhead, a latch block fixed tosaid pm, a pair of triggers mounted for swinging movement abouthorizontal axes, and a couplinglink adapted to be inserted betweensa1dtr1ggers to effect spreading thereof, said triggers be ing capabloofoccupying position to mainain said couplingpin in releasingposition withrespect'to said coupling link and a releasing position to' allow saidcoupling pin" to move 1nto locking position with respect to saidcoupling link.

3. A carcoupling comprising a draw-head, a coupling pin movingvertically through the draw-head, a latch block fixed to'rsaid pin, apair of triggers pivoted within said drawhead to normally occupy avertical position, lips formed on said triggers and engageable with saidblock to support the pin in elevated position, hooks formed on thetriggers and adapted tobe engaged by the latch block for returning the"triggers to vertical position, and a coupling link adapted to be insorted between said triggers for spreading the same to cause said lipsto disengage said block.

LORENZO PIGNANI. FRANK Present.

